Benicio Del Toro

Actor

Born: 19 February 1967

Birthplace: Santurce, Puerto Rico

Best known as: The Mexican cop in Traffic

As a young actor, Benicio Del Toro earned comparisons to Marlon Brando with his smoldering style and muscular, sullen good looks. His best-known early roles included the ill-fated Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995), Vincent Roche in the Alicia Silverstone vehicle Excess Baggage (1997) and Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, with Johnny Depp). In 2000 he played Mexican cop Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez in Steven Soderbergh's drug smuggling drama Traffic; the role won Del Toro a Screen Actors Guild award, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award as best supporting actor. His other films include Snatch (2000, starring Brad Pitt), 21 Grams (2004, with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts), Sin City (2005, with Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis) Che (2008, Steven Soderbergh's biopic of Che Guevara) and The Wolfman (2010, with Anthony Hopkins).

Extra credit: Del Toro's first real acting job was as a guest star in the TV series Miami Vice.